Size Matters: New survey determines ideal penis length in 10 countries
It's the age-old question: Does size matter?
It’s the age old question: does size matter? Men have obsessed over their length and girth for centuries, and a new British survey is going to do little to help matters.
Online medical website Dr. Ed asked men and women in 10 countries what they thought the average size of an erect penis was, then asked them to state what they considered to be the ideal size. Unsurprisingly, bigger was apparently always better.
Over 2,000 people took part, with 1,148 men and 973 women responding to questions about their sexual health and happiness. Half of those respondents came from the Unites States, with the rest spread across Europe. While the survey doesn’t account for sexual preference — and its conclusions are measured in terms of heterosexual preference — we’ll leave you to your own debates over whether size truly matters in the LGBT community.
Interestingly, men chose a bigger penis for both the average and ideal sizes — women think men are just 5.4-inches on average, men think they’re packing at least 5.6. On average, women thought 6.2-inches was an ideal size. Men? They averaged out at 6.5-inches. That extra third of an inch makes all the difference, apparently.
Breaking the data down by country, Americans had the biggest discrepancy between average size and ideal. We thought the average penis size was 5.6 inches, but voted for an ideal size of 6.7-inches.
That number varies across these United States, however. Those size queens up in Maine think an ideal penis should be 7.6-inches erect. Over in New Mexico, however, the ideal size is 6-inches. Maine also thinks they have the highest average size — seriously, Maine, what’s in your lobster? — opting for 6.5-inches. West Virginians were much more reserved. They thought the average size was 5-inches.
The survey’s ultimate size queens? Poland and Austria. Out of all the countries surveyed, Poland had the highest average size — 6.2-inches — while Austria had the highest ideal size — 6.9-inches.
At the bottom end of the scale? Those humble Brits. They thought men, on average, were packing 4.9-inches. Their ideal size was 5.6-inches — what we Americans think of as average.
- Poland: 6.2″ / 6.8″
- Austria: 6.1″ / 6.9″
- Italy: 6″ / 6.8″
- Germany: 5.8″ / 6.5″
- USA: 5.6″ / 6.7″
- Spain: 5.6″ / 6.5″
- Netherlands: 5.5″ / 5.9″
- Portugal: 5,5″ / 5.9″
- France: 5.4″ / 5.9″
- UK: 4.9″ / 5.6″
To bring some science into things, only France came closest to guessing the correct size. According to a study by King’s College London, which analyzed 17 other studies covering 15,000 men, the average erect penis is 5.2-inches. France guessed 5.4. They prefer closer to 5.9-inches, however. Must be all those baguettes.
Good news, though: most men are pretty happy with their penis. Only 10% of those who responded said they were dissatisfied with their erect length. Almost 60% of respondents were either satisfied or very satisfied with their penis — and the older you are, the more likely you are to be happy with your manhood.
However, should you have any concerns, Dr. Ed has some comforting words:
“Perceptions of penis size have become so distorted in the popular imagination that the reality is often ignored and exceeded by exaggerated notions of an ideal size…. At the end of the day, there’s much more to satisfying relationships and sexual confidence than this one simple measure.”
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